JUSTIN Hodges has ripped into Jarryd Hayne over a “selfish” play in the Titans’ hammering to the Broncos as an example of why Neil Henry shouldn’t be made a scapegoat for the club’s shocking slide.

Pointing to a tackle one kick from Hayne as Gold Coast attacked the Broncos’ line when the game was still in the balance, Hodges said it was clear the Titans weren’t operating from Henry’s game plan.

“At the end of the day, the players go out there and do the job. They go out there and execute everything the coach does that week, and they haven’t done it,” Hodges said on Fox League’s Queenslanders Only.

Live stream the 2017 NRL Telstra Premiership on FOX SPORTS. Get your free 2-week FOXTEL NOW trial and start watching in minutes. SIGN UP NOW >

Did Henry want Hayne?

2:18

“At first when I first watched it when I was there, I gave him the 50/50 call that he probably didn’t know that it was the first tackle but everyone around him and everyone in the stands knew it was the first tackle.

“Look, it’s a bit of a selfish play. Play one, I think at that stage it might have been nil-all, so the game was still in the balance there ...”

Both Mal Meninga and Kevin Walters agreed, accusing the players of hanging their coach out to dry with poor effort and low percentage plays.

Ben Ikin, Nathan Ryan and Ben Glover are joined by player manager Steve Gillis to discuss the Eels’ incredible season just 12 months on from salary cap disaster.

“I agree with Hodgo, those senior players at the Coast, they need to stand up and say, ‘well this is what we’re about here’,” Queensland coach Walters said.

“All of them, I don’t know what their leadership group is but I know with the Queensland side, the leaders of the Queensland team, and Mal will know this and Hodgo was part of that leadership group, you’ve got to take ownership of your team, you can’t leave it up to your poor old bloody coach to hold an empty bucket of water.”

Added Meninga: “Neil Henry sits in the box there, he doesn’t do that little chip kick.

Neil Henry talks to Titans players.Source: Getty Images

“He doesn’t miss the tackles or do the poor passes or make the poor decisions defensively, he’s not the one not trying, he’s there trying every day of the week.

“I think he will be (coach of the Titans in 2018), he should be.

“ ... At the end of the day you’re the 13 players who run on the football field, so you’ve got to get the job done.”